and came back up again

Tarot Thursday Three: Learning, Choosing, and Connecting to Decks

It’s been a bit, but I’ve got another set of answers to this week’s Tarot Thursday Three. There’s some interesting prompts this week! Let’s dive in.

What is the deck you’re using the most these days?

These days I’ve been rotating my decks every week with the idea that everything will get its proper useage. This idea came to me from AT’s DOTW threads, and also from my decks complaining that I didn’t stick with one deck for very long. A month (which most people on Instagram seem to do) was too long and would end up with a fatigued deck three weeks in, so a week is just right for me and a deck to build up a bond without one of us getting tired of the other. Sometimes I’ll give a deck an extra week if I feel like it needs it.

Last week was the newly acquired Fountain Tarot, which I got some great daily draws and spreads from. This week was the Wild Unknown, which used to be my most used deck (and would definitely be my workhorse if I did professional readings). Next week is going to be the Divina Tarot that I got in the mail today.

At some point I’ll probably stop doing this, but right now it’s a great way for me to get face time with all of my decks and feel through their strengths and weaknesses. If I wasn’t doing this, I would probably be reaching for the Fountain, the Idiosyncradeck, and the Slow Holler.

[ Image Description: Two cards from the Divina Tarot, next to the tuck box. The cards are the Four of Swords and the Ace of Cups. Both the cards and the deck are gray scale. ]

How did you primarily learn to read tarot? (i.e. Mentor, books, trial and error, online, etc)

I mostly learned from the Internet! Biddy Tarot was my first resource, which helped me understand the more common interpretations and the meaning behind the imagery. Once I was more comfortable I shifted over to Learning the Tarot, which gives a sample of actions for each card that made it easier to figure out what practical advice to give others when reading for them. However, I have to say Little Red Tarot was the most helpful for actually building my own relationship to the cards and come up with meanings outside of the traditional standard.

Nowadays, my learning mostly comes from listening to the views and experiences of people I now consider my peers. I’m hoping to get some of Mary K. Greer’s books very soon, and to maybe one day do the Alternative Tarot Course.

[ Image Description: The Divina Tarot in its tuck box, next to a succulent plant. The card in the box is Justice, and its art shows the typical set of scales surrounded by skulls, flowers, and a thorny rose stem weaving around the scales and through a skull. ]

When you’re reading tarot, what, if any sources, do you feel you’re connecting with?

I believe in the practice that is referred to in anthropology as animism, which means I believe everything has a spirit to some degree. Rocks, rivers, houses, and of course divination decks. So when I’m using a deck, I feel that the primary connection is with the deck itself. They have personalities and can get bored or fatigued, even if it’s not quite the same way we do. Some other people who believe this about tarot decks give them special names or say you have to wrap them in silk, but I don’t go this far. I just try to treat them with respect and acknowledge that we both have needs and limits.

Of course most would argue that it can’t be all coming from the deck, and I agree. But at this point I’m still not very sure where it’s coming from. I call what I do divination and I do believe it’s coming from the divine, but I can’t really give you the specifics of who that divine is. My Gods? My ancestors? Some collective conscious whatever? The Universe?

I guess if you asked me with a gun to my head, I’d be more inclined to choose my ancestors over any of the other answers. But at the end of the day I’m more fussed about the cards and the answers in front of me than the specifics of where they’re coming from. Whoever it is, they’re doing a great job!

[ Image Description: Three cards from the Divina Tarot laid on a wooden table. The cards are the Two of Cups, the Queen of Swords, and the Hierophant. ]

That’s all for this week! I’m thinking about doing a review for the Divina because I’ve seen no one talk about this deck very much (especially in comparison to other Spirit Speak decks!) but we’ll have to see how busy I am next week. I’m gonna try to post something new on here, promise!